iOS Music Tunes: Arpeggio Love by Jesper Jones

by chip on August 28, 2012

Every week, iOS Music Tunes will feature a piece of music made with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod – directly from one of our readers. There’s a lot of artistic potential in iOS devices, and iOS Music And You readers are putting all the fantastic tools to use in creative and exciting ways. This regular feature will be an opportunity to appreciate the interesting things that our readers are doing with iOS music, get some new ideas, and kickstart the creative process. If you’ve made some music with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod that you want to share, submit it now – you can get the info HERE. Now sit back and enjoy today’s featured reader on iOS Music Tunes . . .

Arpeggio LoveJesper Jones

Tell us a little bit about the piece, including what iOS devices/app you used to bring it to life.
I follow iOS Music And You on Facebook to get a regular newsfeed about what´s happening, and one post was about the soft-synth Cassini. I hadn´t heard of it before, so I checked it out and ended up buying it. At first I was a little bit put off, since it looked a bit to complex for me; then I found the arpeggiator! I started to fiddle around with it, and suddenly it sounded very good – I thought: “Let’s make a song out of this”

Oh, and you should listen to it with headphones. Otherwise you´ll miss the different sounds bouncing around from left to right (Cassini´s work, not mine. )

Give us a little background on yourself as a musician.
I´m very much an amateur when it comes to making music. I´ve been DJing a bit and organized some clubs here in Sweden. Most of that was part of a project that some friends and I had to promote the South African genre of Kwaito wich I discovered and fell in love with on my first visit to the country. I started making my own tunes when I got hold of a “free” version of Reason in the mid 00´s, but it was a very complicated platform; so I went over to Garageband wich was included in the Mac I bought. That´s where I started putting together loops into a sequencer, but when the computer broke down and I got an old PC laptop instead, I stopped.

Why do you use iOS devices to make music?
The boring answer is that I got a midi-keyboard for christmas from my daughter and wife. You could plug an iPhone into it and play on the included app. The app was s**t, and I´d had my eyes on NanoStudio for a while. Since it was supported by the midi-keyboard I painfully paid the 9 pounds, and (sorry to sound so melodramatic) it changed my life! Finally I found a DAW that was oh so easy to use, and still powerful enough to make “real” song for once

The more exciting answer is that it feels like iOS-music is the “Punk-era” for the 2010:s. And now you don´t even have to know three chords on a guitar to make music! It’s a movement, and I want to be part of that.

Give us a quick tip – an idea that has helped you make your iOS music making more productive, fun, inspiring, or creative.
The first thing is: Use Soundcloud! There is a BIG iOS community out there, and if it wasn´t for them, I don´t think I would have continued after my third song. I especially want to give a “Big up!” to Michael W and Jinxpadlock, who were the first to start commentating on my tunes, and encourageing me to continue. And, believe it or not, there is almost no Trolling at all on SoundCloud (except for the occational pasted: “please like my facebook” comment) – just people who appreciate music and give you fair feedback on your creations.

Second: Don´t think to much! If you start to question if other people would like what your doing, you will stop making music, sooner rather than later. Just keep publishing your tunes, and you´ll see that you get better and learn more about music production with every new song.

Give us a link to a place where we can hear more of your music and learn more about you.
You can check out more music from Jesper Jones on his SoundCloud site.

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Are you making music on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod? Do you want to share your music with the iOS Music And You community? Beginner, intermediate, or advanced – it doesn’t matter. Just fill out a few quick questions and send me a link to your music. We’ll feature you in one of these Monday spots! Don’t hesitate – let’s hear the great work that you’ve been doing with iOS Music. Get the details HERE.